Roll Them Bones and Bluff Like a Pirate in Bluffaneer

Roll the bone-shaped dice to see if you can match the symbols that are on your card. Don’t make a match? Someone else can claim that they have a match, but they might be bluffing.

Published by Big G Creative, Bluffaneer is a light bluffing dice game with some nifty components and a great presentation. But how does it play?

Gameplay

The treasure map tile is set in the center of the table. This is a guide that tells you what occurs if you roll doubles. The deck is shuffled and each player is dealt a card face-down. You may look at your card, but do not show it to anyone else. Each card shows two symbols. There are four different symbols in the game. Each player also starts the game with ten gold (eight in a six player game).

Gameplay is simple. On your turn, you roll the two bone-shaped dice. This will result in two symbols showing. If they are the same symbol, you perform the relevant action shown on the map tile. Two chests has all players giving you one gold, two swords has you stealing two gold from another player, two ships allow you to steal three gold, while two skulls has you giving each player a gold. It is now the next player’s turn.

If the symbols do not match each other, but do match the symbols on your card, then you reveal your card and each player but you loses one gold (the gold is placed in the box). You then draw a new card and your turn ends. If the symbols do not match your card, another player can shout ‘gimme yer booty!’. This means he is claiming that the symbols match those on his card. If you do not call his bluff, then you give him one gold, and he reveals his card before drawing a new one. If you do call his bluff, he reveals his card. If he was telling the truth, you must give him two gold, but if he was bluffing he gives you one. He then draws a new card and it’s the next player’s turn. If the symbols don’t match your card, and no one shouts ‘gimme yer booty!’, the game simply moves on with no cards being revealed and no gold changing hands or being returned to the box.

The game ends once someone runs out of gold, and the player with the most gold wins.

Review

Bluffaneer is a really light dice game that plays really fast, keeps the action moving, and gives you some fun opportunities for bluffing. It pays to try to remember which cards have already appeared. As you work your way through the deck bluffing can become more difficult, and when the deck gets reshuffled calling bluffs is more risky.

It’s quite a fast-paced game, with quick turns that keep everyone involved as they watch to see if their cards get rolled or decide when to attempt a bluff. The player interaction is fun, the bluffing is light but suspenseful, and can lead to plenty of chuckles or groans.

The game looks absolutely lovely. The bones are really fun to roll, the cards are nice and small, keeping the game quite compact, the information on the treasure map is clearly printed, and the coins, while cardboard, are still attractive. Also, in a fun touch, a Bluffaneer sea shanty is included in the back of the rulebook! The only flaw in the components is some fuzzy language in the rulebook concerning bluffing when the active player’s card matches the roll and how it resolves. We never were quite sure what was intended here and ended up simply having to make a guess.

Bluffaneer is super light and doesn’t bring anything terribly new to the table outside of some very nice components. But the gameplay is compact and nicely presented, the box is portable, and it’s an easy game to get going and play several rounds of. We liked the limited number of components, and the presentation is excellent.

Pros: Great presentation, fast gameplay that keeps everyone involved

Cons: A little vagueness in the rules concerning one interaction

Disclosure: we received a complimentary review copy of this game.